The One Time Tony Committed
by Magos186
Summary: Requiem tag - Tony remembers how his relationship came to be as he and his lover get into a fight about him diving in the river. Slash. M/M One-shot AU


A/N: Slashy one-shot inspired by a scene from my fic The Man Behind the Masks. Tags to Kill Ari, Requiem, and S.W.A.K. Super tiny Gibbs bash when Requiem is mentioned.

Rated T for language.

Italics are flashback.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything relating to NCIS. If I did, Tony would be treated WAAAAY better.

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He can't tell you the moment it happened. He can't tell you _how_ it happened. He can only tell you that he's glad it did. An envelope full of plague and a sniper's bullet had started it all. Now, as the two men stood in a hospital room in Bethesda, staring each other down, the older man couldn't help but remember the night it all began.

 _Tony was beyond exhausted. There wasn't a part of him that didn't ache. He'd only been home from the hospital for two weeks. He'd spent three weeks already in Bethesda fighting off the severe pneumonia the plague had left behind. Just because the bug was no longer contagious didn't mean he was suddenly cured. He still had another week of sick leave...he should have taken it. He wasn't prepared for the exploding car and as much as he loved Abby, her tackle hug afterwards had done more harm than good. Overall he was left physically, mentally, and emotionally exhausted._

 _So when the shootout was over, the bomb safely deployed in the water, it should have been over. He should have been able to take that extra week, after admitting defeat, and recover. Instead, a coward had pulled a trigger and Tony's partner was gone. Her blood covering his face. He'd spent the rest of the day and half the night in the rain, working the scene. They'd found Ari's sniper nest. Even if they would never find the evidence to prove it, Tony knew in his heart that bastard was the killer. Whatever Ari's imagined issues were with Gibbs, he knew the man was not just some random terrorist. If he was, he would have shot at them before they could disable the bomb._

 _The very special agent DiNozzo stood in front of a door ringing a bell, fortunately wearing dry clothes, which included jeans and an OSU hoodie. He had no idea how he'd wound up at this particular house. He simply walked out of the Yard, once he'd been told to go home, and kept on walking. Reality was starting to set in. The grief of what happened slowly making itself known. His feet had carried him to this house, maybe because he subconsciously knew he'd find comfort there._

 _A few minutes after ringing the bell, the door opened to reveal a bleary eyed man, his hair a mess. "Tony? It's 4am, what are you doing here? Are you hurt?"_

 _"Can I come in?" The agent asked softly._

 _"Of course," the man replied, moving out of the way. Tony entered a little ways, but as soon as he closed the door, he turned back to the man in front of him. At that exact moment, all his walls crashed down and he collapsed into the man's arms. As the man lowered them to the ground he heard the agent say "Kate's gone," before the tears overtook him. He didn't say anything else the rest of the night._

 _When Tony awoke the next morning, well later_ that _morning, he knew instantly he wasn't home. The giveaway was the arm holding him tightly against a broad chest. He flushed red with embarrassment as the previous night and his breakdown entered his mind. he tried to get out of the bed without the other occupant waking. He should have known it'd be impossible. "Hey," the voice said softly. "How are you doing?"_

 _"Hey," Tony replied sheepishly. "I'm—uh—alright, I guess. I'm sorry about earlier," he said, refusing to turn and face the man._

 _"For what it's worth, I'm sorry. Kate was one hell of a woman. I know how much you meant to each other."_

 _"Yeah, thanks. And thanks for letting me stay," he said as he sat up. The man knelt behind him and wrapped his arms around the agent from behind. "I'm here for you Tone, you know that. You're my friend. And if you ever decide you want more than friendship, I'm here for that too okay?"_

It was another six months before the two officially got together. They stayed friends at first, then gradually started spending more and more time together. Becoming a couple just became a natural progression of their relationship. Tony was so grateful for it. Not only did the relationship help him get out of a shady undercover assignment, it also helped him survive. Without his partner he wouldn't have made it through Kate's death, Ziva's machinations, McGee's insubordination...he sure as hell wouldn't have survived Gibbs' Mexican Siesta without someone to lean on and look after him.

"Damn it Tony!" His partner shouted, drawing him from his thoughts. "Why is it so hard for you to take care of yourself? You can't go jumping in the river in the middle of the winter! Do you want the pneumonia to come back? Do you want to die?!"

"What was I supposed to do?" Tony yelled back. "I couldn't just sit back and let them drown!"

"Of course not, but you just charged right in with no regard for your own safety. You went into that cold, dirty water multiple times and performed CPR on _two_ people without taking a break. By the time your backup got there, _you_ couldn't breathe. It's a miracle McGee was able to get your inhaler to you in time and that he had an oxygen tank handy. If he didn't, I have a feeling I'd be standing here having this argument with your corpse! Damn it Tony! What do I have to do to get you to understand that YOU matter? That YOUR life means something? You've already given up your lungs for this agency – I won't see you lose your life – especially not because your so called 'partner' is a fucking moron!"

"I know!" Tony shouted as he stood from his hospital bed. "I know that if he just trusted me enough to tell me what was going on instead of trying to do it all his damn self, none of this would have happened. But he's a bastard. What – the – hell – am –" His sentence was cut off as he was overcome by a coughing fit. His lover immediately moved to his side, helping him sit on the bed and hitting his back until the fit passed. As soon as it did, an oxygen mask was placed over the agent's face.

"Breathe baby. Just breathe," his lover said softly as he gently laid the man down, his hand carding through the other man's hair. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have upset you. We shouldn't be fighting. I was just so scared. I don't know what I'd do if I lost you. I love you Tony."

Tony pulled the mask off long enough to whisper, "I love you too Brad," before closing his eyes and falling asleep.

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The end. Yes that's Brad, as in Dr Brad (no relation) Pitt. Anyone think he was going to be the mystery man in Tony's life? Let me know if you did. :-)

Quick A/N: when I said older man, in this fic Tony is two months older than Brad. Thanks to therocketscientist for my error in not defining that.


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